Friends
by Madame Kiksters
Summary: Natsume spends some much needed time with his first friends.


**Notes: **

**These are two shorts of Natsume hanging out with his friends.**  
**I hope you like it!**

**(See the end of the work for more notes.)**

* * *

It's a late Saturday morning that Natsume hurries up the stairs, having realized the time while enjoying breakfast and light conversation with the Fujiwaras. Natsume finishes buttoning the shirt he changed into from his pajamas just as Touko calls up that his friends, Nishimura and Kitamoto, have arrived to pick him up.

"Coming!" He grabs the green bag containing the Book of Friends and slides the strap over his shoulder on his way down the stairs. He nearly trips on the last step in his rush and gives Touko a sheepish grin when she takes a step forward, reaching out to him with a worried gasp.

"I'm fine." He reassures, stepping closer to Touko for her inspection.

"Be careful, Takashi." Touko says, brushing Natsume's bangs away from his face with gentle hands.

Natsume allows himself to selfishly bask in Touko's kindness for a moment before pulling away.

The sound of chair legs scraping on the floor spill out of the kitchen before Shigeru appears, leaning against the doorway. "Be sure to be back before too late."

"And call if you end up having to spend the night at your friends' place, okay?" Touko adds.

Natsume gives them both a smile and readily agrees to their requests, listening to Nishimura and Kitamoto's muffled voices on the other side of the door. He tugs his shoes on while opening the door and bidding the Fujiwaras a cheerful goodbye.

His friends call greetings to the older couple while the door is open, but when it slides shut their focus is devoted entirely to Natsume.

They give him friendly smiles that send warmth coursing through his veins. Nishimura launches into a spiel about the wishing well they were going to try and find today and all the stories about how it really worked while Natsume pulls out his bike. Natsume had elected long ago to keep the information that there was no well in the forest to himself.

The recent addition to the bike did not go unnoticed by the other two boys.

Kitamoto is the first to point it out. "A basket?"

"Tired of your cat riding on the passenger seat?" Nishimura asks.

Natsume shuffles bashfully. "I figured I could carry things in it that can't be stored in my bag safely."

Nishimura nods in acknowledgment, "You mean like your cat?"

The "Yes" is out before Natsume has a chance to think better of his answer and Nishimura laughs good-naturedly while his blond friend blushes.

Kitamoto is quick to come to Natsume's defense. "It's fine, Natsume. Some people have dogs. And some people have cats."

"And some people have cats that follow them around everywhere like dogs." Nishimura adds, prompting Kitamoto to playfully wrestle his arm around Nishimura's shoulders to squeeze his head until the other boy submits with a whine that quickly becomes laughter, Kitamoto's chuckles joining shortly.

When they look up, Natsume is smiling fondly at them. Though his eyes watch the interaction with distant longing.

Kitamoto and Nishimura share a look before the shorter boy chastises Natsume. "How could you just stand there and watch this guy bully someone so much smaller than him?"

Kitamoto snorts. "You're not that much shorter."

Natsume huffs out a laugh, that in the other boys' minds equates to full-blown laughter. "If we wanted to go biking in the woods it would probably be best before it gets dark." Natsume points out shyly, the corners of his mouth still upturned in a hidden smile.

Kitamoto lets go of Nishimura with an agreeable hum.

"Thank you, Natsume. You're a true friend. The best even. I know you would never pick on me, right?" Nishimura stage whispers loud enough that there was no way Kitamoto couldn't hear it.

The three mount their bikes before Nishimura pauses. "Aren't you going to bring your cat?"

Natsume's cheeks warm. He hadn't realized how obviously he carried Nyanko around everywhere. "I wasn't really going to… I wanted to just have fun with you guys today."

Nishimura hums triumphantly, turning his bike around with a skillful slide of his back tire. "Then what are we waiting for?"

Natsume had been invited to festivals before, but he didn't think he could recall a single one where he wasn't confronted with spirits who gravitated to the events.

This time was better, however. Where he'd once been harassed and heckled by the spirits that knew he could see them, he now receives friendly waves or bows in greeting. The youkai that are close enough to want to drag him off to spend time with them finally seem to realize that he doesn't like to be bothered when he is with his human friends.

Which is why when he spies The Dog's Circle youkai waving at him despite Nishimura, Kitamoto, and his sister, Mana, walking beside him, he gives them a fond smile.

"Natsume-sama!" They crow before flocking to him to trail along at his side.

The one-eyed youkai is first to speak, per usual. "We know you're having fun with your human friends, but we would like to extend our sincerest wishes that you'd join us for our own celebration!"

"Celebration! Celebration!" the ox-like youkai chants slowly. Each syllable given its own beat.

Natsume gives a discreet nod much to the youkais' pleasure.

Whatever else they have to say is a mess of jumbled words while they both try to speak over one another about the events they had planned for the night. It was their mistake, mentioning sake within Nyanko's hearing range.

The spirit perks up from where he's resting on Natsume's shoulders.

"Sake?" The second the youkai hear Nyanko's creaky voice their rejoicing stills before immediately trying to backtrack and deny any presence of alcohol at their gathering.

Nyanko wasn't having any of it.

The pudgy cat jumps down from his perch gracefully and lands with a resounding thud. "I'll be going on ahead, Natsume."

When the cat takes off towards the forest surrounding the festival grounds the youkai follow him, frantically trying to deter Nyanko's journey, unknowingly only spurring him on.

Natsume shakes his head at the spirits' antics. He is startled when he turns to find Nishimura in his space.

"Where's your cat going?"

"He probably smelled something he wanted to eat." Or drink. Natsume answered easily.

"Hey, why are you so concerned with Natsume's cat lately Nishimura?" Kitamoto teases, only to be greeted with an elbow in the gut from the shorter boy.

Natsume's eyes drift to Kitamoto's younger sister. Her personality was so strikingly different from his friend's that it was a wonder they were even related. Where Kitamoto was mature and laid back, Mana was carefree and energetic. Definitely not a personality he had too much experience with. Especially when paired with the fact she was a girl, which already made Natsume feel lost on how to talk to her. Added that she was a stranger to him and he felt the almost suffocating pressure to maintain appearances and leave a good impression on his friend's little sister.

He figures it is safest to smile and nod along with everything she said.

Kitamoto had promised that she was going to meet up with her friends later that evening and Natsume, though he'd never say anything aloud, was anxious to see her off.

The first stall they stop at, based on Mana's request, is incredibly busy, which is what had attracted her attention to it in the first place.

Natsume admires the various masks while they wait and finds his thoughts drifting to the various youkai the masks remind him of. He even sees a generic lucky cat mask that puts him in mind of Nyanko.

"You should get it." He hears from beside him. When he turns, he finds Mana looking up at him with a wide smile. "It looks just like that cat you were carrying around!"

Natsume rubs the back of his head nervously. "Not really. It would look more like him if the features were stretched out more."

Mana giggles. "But it would fit because you're not as fluffy as him."

Natsume sends Kitamoto a helpless look and finds the other boy glaring at his sister. "Stop giving him trouble and leave him alone."

At his reprimand, Mana huffs. Grumbling under her breath, but not apologizing for her actions, not that Natsume wanted her to.

Their wait in line for the masks, that they never got, must have been longer than Natsume realized because a group of girls approached them with friendly waves.

"Kitamoto!" The siblings turned at the sound of their name before Mana's smile split her face from its width.

"You're early!" Mana called, briskly walking towards her friends. When she reached them, she turned to wave at her brother and his friends before turning to depart with her friends.

The second she was out of his proximity, Natsume found his shoulders sagging with relief.

After Mana leaves, the three boys are free to explore at their leisure. The next stall they stop at is one that has a kiddie pool with toy fish swimming around waiting to be scooped out for small prizes.

The next stall they stop at was one that serves taiyaki, but rather than the red bean paste that he has grown to love from Touko, it is filled with custard.

With every bite, Natsume finds himself filled with longing for the ones Touko makes.

"These are delicious, right?" Nishimura says, interrupting Natsume's thoughts.

"Yeah." Natsume agrees quietly, the smile he's worked hard over the years to perfect slapped across his face, but something must have shown because he is suddenly bombarded with Kitamoto and Nishimura asking him what he doesn't like about the treat.

"Did you get a bad one? Do you want to try mine and compare?"

"Did yours get burned? I'll get you a new one if you want?"

Natsume feels his cheeks heat from the attention. "No, it's not that…. I was just thinking about how much better the red bean paste taiyakis are."

The other two pause before Nishimura chuckles. "I always wonder what you're thinking about when you get that faraway look. Guess I don't have to ponder that anymore!"

Kitamoto elbows Nishimura in a playful reprimand for teasing Natsume and the moment passes.

They continue to enjoy the festivals various games and activities scattered all over the festival and when it's time to watch the fireworks, the three of them decide to find a nice spot to watch them before the rest of the festival goers get all the nice spots.

Natsume watches the other two boys play janken for lack of anything better to do until it's time for the fireworks to start. Kitamoto wins almost every single time, much to Nishimura's chagrin. Mostly because Nishimura has a terrible habit of using rock first majority of the time.

After the fireworks, Nishimura and Kitamoto break off to go home and Natsume bids them farewell.

"What about your cat? Do you want us to help you look for him?"

"No. I have a pretty good idea of where he's going to be. Later!"

"Later!" They chorus back at him.

Natsume wastes no time heading into the forest. He'd had a wonderful time with his human friends, but he'd be lying if he wasn't equally as happy spending time with his youkai ones.

When he finds their gathering, Nyanko is already drunkenly belting out songs much to everyone's agony. Natsume spares them by scooping the cat up and into his lap.

"'Bout time you showed up." Nyanko chastises. A sigh escapes him when Natsume's fingers tangle gently in his fur.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone."

Hinoe offers him a cup of sake with the claim that it was specially made for the night, but he dutifully refuses.

The next few hours are spent listening to the wild and fantastical stories the youkai share with one another from times Natsume had only ever heard about in history books, occasionally getting roped in to set the record straight on human logic. For the most part, he's content to sit and listen, brushing Nyanko's fur until he's fallen asleep and the other youkai are more than happy with his role.

He tells himself that he is only out here this late because he doesn't want the youkai to come crashing into his room and spending almost the entire night to finish their celebrations properly.

He looks around the group, watches them laugh and tease one another, before looking down at Nyanko's slumbering form.

Yeah… that's the only reason why.

* * *

**Notes:**

**Nishimura may or may not think Natsume's cat is some sort of support animal lmao**

**I wanted to do something from Nishimura or Kitamoto's point of view where they realize that Natsume is a bit off, but they are very understanding of his oddness and figure he has some psychological problems, but the flow wasn't right and it ended up being more depressing than I wanted this fluffy Christmas fic to be xD**

**Maybe some day!**


End file.
